On which I write about the books I read, science, science fiction, fantasy, and anything else that I want to. Currently trying to read and comment upon every novel that has won the Hugo and International Fantasy awards.

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Saturday, June 28, 2014

2014 Locus Award Nominees

Location: Seattle, Washington.

Comments: Continuing her parade through the 2014 awards, Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice found a place on list of nominees for the Best First Novel. The only real surprise is that Leckie's book doesn't appear on the short list of nominees for the Best Science Fiction Novel as well (although it did find a place on the long list). On the other hand, despite their loud claims about their alleged popularity, none of the members of the so-called "sad puppy" slate that caused some small controversy in the Hugo Award nominations were able to find a place on this ballot - even on the long list - which is interesting given that the Locus Awards are, in large part, little more than a popularity contest. This isn't dispositive evidence, but it is strong evidence that the works on the "sad puppy" ballot weren't being excluded from venues like the Hugo Awards because of some conspiracy against the authors, but rather because the works they wrote simply weren't particularly good.

Other Nominees:
2. NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
3. The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch
4. River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay
5. Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
6. The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
7. Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett
8. Sister Mine by Nalo Hopkinson
9. The Land Across by Gene Wolfe
10. London Falling by Paul Cornell
11. Joyland by Stephen King
12. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
13. Blood Oranges by Kathleen Tierney
14. The Tyrant's Law by Daniel Abraham
15. Cold Steel by Kate Elliott
16. Necessary Evil by Ian Tregillis
17. The Aylesford Skull by James P. Blaylock
18. The Violent Century by Lavie Tidhar
19. Anno Dracula 1976-1991: Johnny Alucard by Kim Newman
20. American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett
21. The Year of the Ladybird by Graham Joyce
22. The Scrivener's Tale by Fiona McIntosh
23. Between Two Thorns by Emma Newman
24. The Village Sang to the Sea: A Memoir of Magic by Bruce McAllister
25. Dead Set by Richard Kadrey

Other Nominees:
2. The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
3. A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar
4. The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker
5. The Golden City by J. Kathleen Cheney
6. The Scroll of Years by Chris Willrich
7. Wolfhound Century by Peter Higgins
8. The Age of Ice by J.M. Sidorova
9. A Questionable Shape by Bennett Sims

3. The Princess and the Queen by George R.R. Martin
4. Black Helicopters by Caitlín R. Kiernan
5. Precious Mental by Robert Reed
6. Rock of Ages by Jay Lake
7. The Queen of Eyes by Rachel Pollack
8. Feral Moon by Alexander Jablokov
9. Iseul's Lexicon by Yoon Ha Lee
10. The Weight of the Sunrise by Vylar Kaftan
11. Spin by Nina Allan
12. The Home for Broken Dolls by Kirstyn McDermott
13. The Mummy's Heart by Norman Partridge

5. A Terror by Jeffrey Ford
6. A Hollow Play by Amal El-Mohtar
7. The Litigation Master and the Monkey King by Ken Liu
8. Jaws of Saturn by Laird Barron
9. The Sun and I by K.J. Parker
10. Zero for Conduct by Greg Egan
11. Kormak the Lucky by Eleanor Arnason
12. The Unwanted Women of Surrey by Kaaron Warren
13. Paranormal Romance by Christopher Barzak
14. The Queen of the Night's Aria by Ian McDonald
15. We Three Kids by Margo Lanagan
16. The Ugly Duckling by Matthew Hughes
17. The Wreck of the Mars Adventure by David D. Levine
18. The Christmas Show by Pat Cadigan
19. A Window or a Small Box by Jedediah Berry
20. The Effigy Engine: A Tale of the Red Hats by Scott Lynch
21. The Book Seller by Lavie Tidhar
22. The Good Husband by Nathan Ballingrud
23. The Discovered Country by Ian R. MacLeod
24. Phosphorus by Veronica Schanoes
25. Painted Birds and Shivered Bones by Kat Howard
26. Grizzled Veterans of Many and Much by Robert Reed
27. Atmosphaera Incognita by Neal Stephenson
28. Watching the Cow by Alex Irvine
29. Chalk by Pat Cadigan
30. The Dragonslayer of Merebarton by K.J. Parker
31. Entangled by Ian R. MacLeod
32. And Then Some by Matthew Hughes
33. No Others are Genuine by Gregory Frost
34. The Irish Astronaut by Val Nolan
35. The Same Deep Waters as You by Brian Hodges

3. A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel by Ken Liu
4. The Science of Herself by Karen Joy Fowler
5. The Dead Sea-Bottom Scrolls by Howard Waldrop
6. Among Us by Robert Reed
7. The She-Wolf's Hidden Grin by Michael Swanwick
8. Uncaged by Gene Wolfe

13. Effigy Nights by Yoon Ha Lee
14. The Fairy Enterprise by Jeffrey Ford
15. The Sounds of Old Earth by Matthew Kressel
16. The Wildfires of Antarctica by Alan DeNiro
17. Ilse, Who Saw Clearly by E. Lily Yu
18. Sing by Karin Tidbeck
19. Pathways by Nancy Kress
20. The Promise of Space by James Patrick Kelly
21. The Master Conjurer by Charlie Jane Anders
22. Estella Saves the Village by Theodora Goss
23. Soulcatcher by James Patrick Kelly
24. Fire Above, Fire Below by Garth Nix
25. The Beasts We Want to Be by Sam J. Miller
26. The Bees Her Heart, the Hive Her Belly by Benjanun Sriduangkaew

3. The Bread We Eat in Dreams by Catherynne M. Valente
4. Kabu Kabu by Nnedi Okorafor
5. The Ape's Wife and Other Stories by Caitlín R. Kiernan
6. Conservation of Shadows by Yoon Ha Lee
7. Horse of a Different Color by Howard Waldrop
8. The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All and Other Stories by Laird Barron

9. The Collected Short Works of Poul Anderson, Volume 5: The Door to Anywhere by Poul Anderson

10. Five Autobiographies and a Fiction by Lucius Shepard

11. The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg, Volume Eight: Hot Times in Magma City by Robert Silverberg

12. Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell

13. A Very British History: The Best Science Fiction Stories of Paul McAuley by Paul J. McAuley

14. How the World Became Quiet by Rachel Swirsky
15. North American Lake Monsters by Nathan Ballingrud
16. Magic Highways: The Early Jack Vance, Volume Three by Jack Vance
17. Beyond the Rift by Peter Watts
18. Before and Afterlives by Christopher Barzak
19. The Greatship by Robert Reed
20. Space Is Just a Starry Night by Tanith Lee
21. Good-Bye, Robinson Crusoe and Other Stories by John Varley
22. Adam Robots by Adam Roberts
23. Antiquities and Tangibles and Other Stories by Tim Pratt
24. Trafalgar by Angelica Gorodischer
25. The Very Best of Barry N. Malzberg by Barry N. Malzberg
26. Caution: Contains Small Parts by Kirstyn McDermott

27. Snodgrass and Other Illusions: The Best Short Stories of Ian R. MacLeod by Ian R. MacLeod

3. Queen Victoria's Book of Spells edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
4. The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume Seven edited by Jonathan Strahan
5. Unnatural Creatures edited by Neil Gaiman and Maria Dahvana Headley
6. Fearsome Journeys: The New Solaris Book of Fantasy edited by Jonathan Strahan
7. The Other Half of the Sky edited by Athena Andreadis and Kay Holt
8. The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Five edited by Ellen Datlow

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